It is well known in motor vehicles to have a door which is hingedly mounted within a door opening for swinging movement between open and closed positions. The door opening is defined by a hinge pillar at the front of the door opening, a latch pillar at the rear, a roof rail at the top, and a sill at the bottom. Upper and lower hinges are bolted or welded to the door and to the hinge pillar to mount the door for swinging movement. Precise mounting of upper and lower hinges on the door and the pillar establish the top and bottom edges of the door at a uniform spaced position relative the roof rail sill and align the adjacent window sills and exterior sculptured feature lines as well as establish the door at a precise longitudinal position on the body so that the trailing edge of the door is properly spaced from the latch pillar. A latch and a striker act between the latch pillar and the door to latch the door and precisely establish the transverse position of the door trailing edge to achieve flush and aligned relation of the adjacent outer surfaces of the body and the door. In two-door vehicle bodies where the leading edge of the door is adjacent the fender, the fender can be shimmed transversely of the vehicle to mate the outer surface of the fender with the outer surface of the door. In four-door vehicles, the trailing edge of the front door is established transversely by the latch and striker so that the outer surface of the front door is precisely aligned with the outer surface of the rear door.
Conventional motor vehicle doors are constructed of a stamped steel outer panel which is formed to the desired outer contour of the vehicle body and a stamped steel inner panel having a transverse extending hinge mounting surface at the forward end of the door. The outermost edge of the inner panel hinge mounting surface is bent forwardly to define a flange which lies face-to-face against the outer panel. The inner and outer panels are joined together by hem flanging the edge of the outer panel over the flange of the inner panel. The steps of stamping the outer panel and hem flanging the outer panel over the inner panel are effective to provide a door of consistently controlled outer dimensions so that the appearance features of the door such as the edges of the door, the outer surface contour and the location of the windowsill and other exterior sculptured feature lines are accurately and repeatedly located relative one another. However, a recognized shortcoming of this conventional door construction is that the longitudinal positioning of the transverse extending hinge mounting surface is subject to some degree of variation with respect to the appearance feature of the door because of various factors such as metal springback, etc.
The motor vehicle body panels which define the door opening are conventionally stamped from a single sheet of steel or are comprised by welding separate stampings together. In either case, the vehicle body constructed thereby is known to provide vehicle body door openings of consistently controlled dimension so that the appearance features of the door opening, such as the edges and outer surfaces of the pillars, roof rail, and sill are located identically on all bodies.
The aforedescribed consistent and reliable manufacture of the vehicle body opening and the door outer panel assure that the door is capable of mounting within the door opening with the appearance features of the door precisely aligned, mated and spaced relative the adjacent appearance features of the body.
The door is conventionally mounted on the vehicle body by upper and lower hinges, each hinge having a first link attached to the transverse extending surface of the door and a second link connected to the longitudinally extending surface of the body pillar. The hinge links have bolt holes which are slotted or otherwise oversized so that the door may be adjusted in the vertical, longitudinal, and transverse directions to achieve a precise alignment of the door with the vehicle body.
Alignment and centering of the door in the door opening is obtained through alternating steps of adjustment and inspection. More specifically, it is common practice for the assembly worker to employ his skill and experience in conjunction with gauge blocks or the like in estimating an initial attachment of the hinges to the body pillar. The door is then inspected to observe any disparity in alignment and centering of the door appearance features relative the door appearance features. The bolts are then loosened and adjusted to bring the door to a better fit. This procedure of alternating inspection and adjustment is repeated until the desired door fit is obtained.
In other installations the hinge may be welded to the door or vehicle body and adjustment of the door in the door opening is achieved by holding the door precisely within the opening while making the welded connection.